Azemmour or Azammur ( ar, أزمور, azammūr; ber, ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ, azemmur, lit=wild olive tree) is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the

Oum Er-Rbia River Oum Er-Rbia (Berber: ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏ ⵉⵙⴰⴼⴻⵏ, ar, أم الربيع, "the mother of springtime", spelling Oum el- rbia, is a large, long and high-throughput river in central Morocco. The river is long. With an average water throughp ...

, 75 km southwest of Casablanca.

Etymology

The word Azemmour comes from the Berber word ''Azemmur'' ("wild olive tree").

History

Azemmour is generally identified as the

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...

Azama, latinized as Asama. Before 1486, it was a dependency of the King of Fez. In 1486 its inhabitants became

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s and tributaries of

João II of Portugal John II ( pt, João II; ; 3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince ( pt, o Príncipe Perfeito, link=no), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for re-establish ...

. In 1513 Azemmour's governor Moulay Zayam refused to pay the tribute and mustered a powerful, well-equipped army. Manuel responded to this challenge by sending a massive fleet of 500 ships and 15 thousand soldiers (Bergreen, 19).

James, Duke of Braganza Jaime of Braganza (1479 – 20 September 1532) was the 4th Duke of Braganza and the 2nd Duke of Guimarães, among other titles. He is known for reviving the wealth and power of the House of Braganza which had been confiscated by King John II of ...

led this army and on September 1st he conquered the city with no resistance from its inhabitants.

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

, the man famed for leading the first-ever circumnavigation of the earth, was among the Portuguese soldiers there; he lost his horse in skirmishes outside the city. Portuguese control of the city lasted only for a short period; it was abandoned by

João III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the t ...

in 1541 due to his court's economic difficulties.

Geography

Azemmour is located on the

west of Casablanca. Azemmour's beach is a place for surfing and

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

. Also called Haouzia, the area's flora includes

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

Culture

A spring festival used to be held annually in Azemmour in March. It was first held in 2007. The patron saint of Azemmour is

Abu Shuayb Abu Shuayb Ayub Ibn Said Erredad al- Sanhaji Assariya () (French transliteration Abou Chouaib) (died 1176–7) is the patron saint of Azemmour, Morocco. His mausoleum in Azemmour was built on the order of Mohammed ben Abdallah. It stands on the rema ...

. His mausoleum was built on the order of

Mohammed ben Abdallah ''Sidi'' Mohammed ben Abdallah ''al-Khatib'' ( ar, سيدي محمد بن عبد الله الخطيب), known as Mohammed III ( ar, محمد الثالث), born in 1710 in Fes and died on 9 April 1790 in Meknes, was the Sultan of Morocco from 17 ...

. Each year, a ''moussem'' is celebrated to honour him. The Old City's walls are decorated by several local artists.''Travel guide of Lonely Planet: Morocco,'' 9th Edition Feb 2009, p. 149. The city features a Portuguese medina, which has three parts, a Jewish mellah, a kasbah, and the old medina. A historic lighthouse called Sidi Boubeker is located north of Azemmour.

Notable natives or residents

* Jaafar Aksikas, Moroccan American author and intellectual *

Estevanico Estevanico ("Little Stephen"; modern spelling Estebanico; –1539), also known as Esteban de Dorantes or Mustafa Azemmouri (مصطفى الزموري), was the first African to explore North America. Estevanico first appears as a slave in Portu ...

, also known as Esteban the

Moor Moor or Moors may refer to: Nature and ecology * Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils. Ethnic and religious groups * Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during ...

, was enslaved and traveled with a Spanish expedition to North America in 1527. He is the first African to travel with explorers in North America and was one of four men out of several hundred to survive shipwrecks on the Florida and Texas coasts, Native American slavery and attacks, and other setbacks over a six-year period before he and his party reached safety in a Spanish colonial town. *

Abdallah Laroui Abdallah Laroui ( ar, عبدالله العروي; born 7 November 1933) is a Moroccan philosopher, historian, and novelist. Besides some works in French, his philosophical project has been written mostly in Arabic. He is among the most read and ...

, Moroccan historian, novelist and philosopher

Images

Image:20090807_Azemmour_Morocco_2.jpg , Azemmour old city. Image:Azemmour from Oum Er-Rbia.jpg , Azemmour seen from Oum Er-Rbia River. Image:Azemmour_synagogue.jpg , Synagogue. File:Azemmour embroidery, Morocco, 18th century.jpg, Azemmour embroidery, 18th century Image:Braun_Azemmour_UBHD.jpg , Azemmour 16th century.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . {{Authority control Former Portuguese colonies Kingdom of the Algarve Populated places in El Jadida Province Phoenician colonies in Morocco